6061  '13'NVriYJ 


UTMH 


By  CHARLES    ELLIS, 

(  NON-MORMON.) 


IHtJitton  of  Jftbe 


SALT  LAKE  CITY: 

CHARLES     ELLIS 

1891. 


This  pamphlet  is  presented  with  the  compli- 
ments of 

lion's   Co-operative  Mercantile    Institution 

of  Salt  Lake  City.  We  would  be  pleased  to  know 
your  opinion  of  it.  If  any  of  your  non-Mormon 
friends  would  be  interested  in  reading  it,  send  us 
their  names. 

Address:          Z.  C.  M.  L, 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1891,  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian 
Washington,  h,y  CHAKLES  ELT.IS. 


SEE  THIRD  PAGE  OF  COVER. 


WTMH 


+1847.bo»1870.+ 


By  CHARLES    ELLIS, 

(  NON-MORMON.) 


ISWtton  of 


SALT  LAKE  CITY: 

CHARLES     ELLIS 

1891. 


X 

INTRODUCTION 


The  writer  of  the  following  pages  came  to  Utah  early  in 
January,  1889.  He  brought  with  him  the  eastern  conception 
of  Mormonism  and  the  Mormons.  From  the  Idaho  boundary 
he  rode  all  day  long  on  a  train  loaded  with  people,  moving 
from  town  to  town.  He  knew  he  was  in  Mormon-land.  He 
stared  at  the  people,  trying  to  detect  a  "Mormon."  Arrived 
in  Salt  Lake  he  watched  the  people  carefully  for  hours,  trust- 
ing to  his  Eastern  conception  of  the  Mormons  to  enable  him 

v* 

to  detect  the  difference  between  "Mormon"  and  "Gentile,"  but 
in  vain.  He  saw  at  once  that  whatever  may  have  been  true 
years  ago,  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  distinguish  the  classes. 
He  has  been  in  Utah  most  of  the  time  since.  He  soon  saw 
that  the  Mormons  were  being  misrepresented.  He  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  so.  An  an ti -Mormon  paper  attacked  him  for 
defending  the  Mormons,  and  refused  to  publish  his  reply.  He 
concluded  that  it  had  been  as  unjust  to  the  Mormons,  probably, 
all  these  years,  as  to  himself.  He  went  to  work  quietly  to 
investigate.  This  publication  contains  the  results  of  his  study 
of  the  "Mormon  Question"  from  the  Nauvoo  exodus,  and  from 
the  arrival  of  the  Mormon  Pioneers  in  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley 
down  to  1870.  In  another  publication  he  will  give  the  history 
of  Utah  Liberalism,  or  as  it  should  be  called,  Utah  ANTI- 

MOKMONISM. 


u'47  to  '70." 


"He  who  feeds  men  servethfew; 
He  serves  all  who  dares  be  true." 

ISM   of  modern  times  has  been  so  much  maligned  as 
"Mormonism."     None    has    been  so    little  understood 
The  secret  of  the  hostility  that  it  has  been  compelled   to 
struggle  against  is  the  fact  that  it  has,  from  the  first,  drawn  its 
recruits  almost  wholly  from  the  various  evangelical  churches.     It 
planted  itself  on  the  Bible,  but  added  thereto  "new  revelations." 
The  established  theologies  rose  against  it  as  a  heresy.      Its   early 
representatives  were,  for  a  time,  eagerly  met   by   evangelists  in 
debate.     But  the  continual  victories  won  by  the  Mormon  Elders 
over  their   opponents  broke  up  the  debating  habit  and  the  new 
heresy    was  set  upon  by  the  mob.      A  mob  was  more  powerful 
than  a  debate.     But  it  would  not  do  to  say  that  the   mob    was 
fighting  the  Mormons  because  they  were  heretics.      The  govern- 
ment could  have  been  called  upon  to  suppress  such  an  open  vio- 
lation of  the  constitutional  guaranty  of  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech.     A  new  charge  had  therefore  to  be  manufactured  against 
the  Mormons,  under  cover  of  which  they  could  still  be  pursued. 
The   new   charge   was    "disloyalty   to   the  government."      The 
enemies  of  the  Mormons   assumed  that  because  the  government 
had  seen  the  new  sect  driven  from  place  to  place,  robbed  and 
many  of  its  members  murdered, 'with  out  interfering  to  protect  it, 
therefore,  the  Mormons  must  hate  the  United   States.     Hence, 
when   they  made  up  their  minds  to   leave  the  country,  the  cry 
arose  that  they  were  disloyal.     How   little  truth  and  how  much 
falsehood  there  has  been  in  this  charge,  I  propose  to  show.     In 
doing  this,  I  shall  begin  with  the  exodus  of  the  Mormons  from 
Nauvoo,  in  1846,  and  follow  their  history  in  Utah  from   1847  to 
1870,  setting  forth  their  attitude  towards  the  general  govern- 


ment,  their  struggle  for  life  and  their  loyalty  through  misrepre- 
sentation and  abuse. 

In  January,  1846,  when  the  Mormons  were  leaving  Nauvoo, 
the  cry  of  "disloyalty"  was  thundered  against  them  and  echoed 
and  re-echoed  over  the  land.  At  that  time  the  High  Council  of 
the  Church  issued  a  circular  from  which  I  quote  :  "We  declare, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  some  who  have  concluded  that  our  griev- 
ances have  alienated  us  from  our  country,  that  our  patriotism  has 
not  been  overcome  by  fire,  by  sword,  by  daylight,  or  by  midnight 
assassination  which  we  have  endured,  neither  have  they  alienated 
us  from  the  institutions  of  our  country." 

While  the  Mormons  were  crossing  Iowa  they  were  visited  by 
an  officer  of  the  United  States  army,  who  had  been  sent  to  ask 
them  to  furnish  a  battalion  of  infantry  for  service  in  the  Mexi- 
can War.  A  convention  of  the  Mormons  was  called  for  the  pur- 
pose of  filling  the  battalion.  At  that  meeting,  on  the  15th  of 
July,  1846,  Brigham  Young  said:  "After  we  get  through  talk- 
ing we  will  call  out  the  companies;  and  if  there  are  not  young 
men  enough  we  will  take  the  old  men,  and  if  they  are  not 
enough  we  will  take  the  women.  ...  I  want  to  say  to 
every  man,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  framed  by 
our  fathers,  was  dictated,  was  revealed,  was  put  into  their  hearts 
by  the  Almighty.  Although  unknown  to  them,  it  was  dictated  by 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  tell  you  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  it  is  as  good  as  ever  I  could  ask  for.  I  say  unto 
you,  magnify  the  laws.  There  is  no  law  in  the  United  States  or 
in  the  Constitution  but  I  am  ready  to  make  honorable." 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  Brigham  Young,  with  a  band  of  pio- 
neers, left  the  Missouri  to  find  a  new  home  for  the  Mormons 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  .They  celebrated  the  Fourth  of 
July  on  their  march.  On  the  twenty -fourth  of  that  month  and 
year  they  located  in  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  On  the 
lot  of  land  now  known  as  "Temple  Block",  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
Brigham  stuck  his  spiked  cane  and  said  :  "Here  we  shall  build 
the  Temple  of  our  God,"  and  "here"  it  stands  to-day,  slowly, 
but  surely  approaching  completion. 

Why  did  the  Mormons  come  to  this  country  ?  Because  they 
had  been  virtually  driven  out  of  the  United  States.  The 


government  issued  no  edict  of  banishment  against  them,  but  citi- 
zens of  the  Union  had  been  permitted  to  mob  and  drive  them 
from  state  to  state  and  they  fled  at  last  to  secure  life  and  peace* 
They  were  mobbed  and  driven  because  they  believed  in  a  real  and 
living  God  who,  as  they  declared,  was  again  revealing  his  word  and 
will  to  mankind.  From  its  appearance  Mormonism,  as  I  have  saidr 
has  been  hated  by  the  evangelical  sects  as  a  heresy.  The  cry 
against  its  polygamy  as  being  a  danger  to  society,  and  the  cry 
against  its  priesthood  as  being  a  danger  to  the  government  have 
never  been  more  than  subterfuge,the  object  being  to  detract  atten- 
tion from  the  real  fight,  which  was  to  destroy  the  Mormon  heresy. 
This  statement  will  bear  full  investigation.  Mormonism  is  at 
once  the  most  conservative  and  the  most  radical,  the  most  ortho- 
dox and  the  most  heterodox  system  of  faith  in  the  world.  Follow- 
ing the  letter  of  the  scriptures  in  its  organization,  it  possesses  the 
spirit  of  modern  science,  and,  indeed,  Joseph  Smith  anticipated 
Herbert  Spencer,  to  some  extent,  in  his  great  philosophy  of 
evolution.  Why  has  Mormonism  been  so  much  misunderstood  ? 
Simply  because  the  evangelical  churches  saw  in  its  success  their 
own  downfall,  and  they  dare  not  let  their  own  followers  know 
what  Mormonism  was,  lest  they  should  embrace  it.  As  compared 
with  the  evangelical  conception  of  life  here  and  after,  of  God 
and  the  glories  of  immortality,  Mormonism  is  as  a  Rocky-Moun- 
tain day  in  May  compared  with  a  New  England  day  in  March 
when  the  wind  is  east  and  the  sun  is  veiled.  Such  being  the 
case,  it  may  be  readily  understood  that  an  investigation  of  early 
Mormon  history  in  Utah  will  reveal  a  very  different  spirit  from 
that  which  has  been  talked  about  and  written  and  preached  against 
in  the  east  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

It  has  long  been  charged  against  the  Mormons  that  they  set 
up  a  church  government  here  instead  of  a  civil  or  secular  con- 
trol. When  they  came,  this  was  Mexican  territory.  It  was  in- 
habited only  by  Indians,  coyotes,  jack  rabbits,  snakes,  and 
crickets.  The  Mormons  came,  not  as  a  political  body,  but  as  a. 
church.  They  came  in  a  state  of  pauperism.  The  dire  necessity 
upon  them  was  to  get  something  out  of  the  ground  upon  which 
they  could  live.  Hence,  they  thought  nothing  of  government, 
and  everything  of  irrigation  and  farming.  But  so  rapidly  did 


6 

their  people  come  that  before  they  had  been  here  two  years  they 
formed  the  "Provisional  Government  of  the  State  of  Deseret," 
of  which  Brigham  Young  was  elected  Governor,  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1849.  At  once  delegates  were  sent  to  Washington  ask- 
ing that  "Deseret"  be  received  into  the  Union.  The  Mormons 
had  been  mobbed  out  of  the  United  States  on  account  of  their 
heresy.  Their  first  legislative  act  in  their  new  home  was  to 
petition  the  United  States  for  admission  to  the  Union.  On  the 
24th  of  July,  1849,  the  Mormons  held  their  first  celebration  in 
the  Valley  of  Great  Salt  Lake.  It  has  long  been  charged 
against  them  that  this  proves  their  disloyalty — they  had  ignored 
the  4th  and  celebrated  the  24th  of  July,  therefore,  they  must  be 
rebels.  But  why  did  they  pass  the  Fourth?  Because  in  1848 
the  crickets  destroyed  the  crops  and  until  those  of  1849  matured, 
the  people  were  on  rations,  the  only  relief  being  that  derived 
from  thistle  roots  and  tops  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  184-8  and 
1849,  and  from  men  rushing  to  the  California  gold  mines  in  the 
summer  of  18  ^9.  When  the  4th  of  July  came  they  were  still 
hungry,  and  starvation  is  not  a  good  basis  upon  which  to  at- 
tempt a  celebration.  But,  even  if  they  had  not  been  so  hungry, 
I  cannot  see  the  disloyalty  of  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  their 
settlement  in  the  first  peaceful  home  they  had  found  in  twenty 
years,  rather  than  the  natal- day  of  the  nation  that  had  virtually 
driven  them  out  of  its  confines.  But  how  did  the  Mormons 
celebrate  the  24th  ?  Much  will  depend  on  that. 

They  raised  a  "liberty-  pole."  From  its  truck  they  shook 
out  an  American  ensign  sixty  five  feet  long.  "  The  material  was 
purchased  on  the  Atlantic  coast  and  carried  2500  miles  by  a 
Mormon  Elder.  The  flag  was  made  by  Mormon  women,  and  on 
that  24th  of  July  it  was  mast-headed  by  Mormon  hands.  In  the 
exercises  of  the  day,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read; 
a  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  presented  to 
Governor  Young  and  the  act  was  greeted  with  cheers  and  shouts 
of  "may  it  live  forever  !  " 

In  June,  1849,  General  John  Wilson  came  to  Salt  Lake  on 
his  way  to  California  as  Indian  Agent.  He  told  the  people  that  he 
had  been  authorized  to  remove  the  Mormons  from  the  lands  upon 
which  they  had  settled.  I  do  not  believe  a  word  had  ever  been 


said  to  him  to  that  effect.  I  believe  it  was  an  attempt  to  black- 
mail the  Mormons.  But  they  had  no  money  to  offer  and  the 
threat  created  great  consternation.  They  had  already  been 
driven  five  times  and,  judging  the  iuture  by  the  past,  it  seemed 
to  them  that  the  threat  was  based  on  fact.  In  a  few  weeks  it  was 
learned  that  a  body  of  troops  was  coming  and  the  Mormons  be- 
lieved they  were  to  execute  the  threat  made  by  Wilson.  Then 
did  the  Mormons  come  nearer  to  rebellion  than  ever  before  or 
since.  They  said  they  would  not  be  driven  again  without  at- 
tempting to  protect  their  homes  against  violence — and  who  that 
is  a  man  will  dare  to  say  that  they  did  not  do  right  ?  The  ap- 
proaching force  came  in  and  the  leader  called  on  Governor 
Young.  The  mission  was  peaceful.  It  was  Lieutenant  Stans- 
bury  with  a  corps  of  United  States  Topographical  Engineers  sent 
to  survey  Salt  and  Utah  lakes.  As  soon  as  the  purpose  of  the 
men  became  known,  all  anxiety  disappeared,  and  the  Mor- 
mons vied  with  each  other  in  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  army  and  government.  They 
were  in  the  valleys  over  a  year,  and  in  Stansbury's  report  he  said 
the  Mormon  people,  from  their  President  down,  had  always 
treated  them  well  and  aided  them  in  every  way  possible  to  prose- 
cute their  work.  Stansbury  was  corroborated  by  Lieutenant 
Gunnison,  and  the  reports  of  both  of  those  army  officers  are  in 
the  archives  of  the  nation  and  furnish  irrefragable  evidence 
that  up  to  the  summer  of  1850,  there  was  no  sign  of  disloyalty 
among  the  Mormons  in  the  ''State  of  Deseret." 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1850,  an  act  of  Congress  created 
the  Territory  of  Utah.  On  the  28th  of  the  same  month  and 
year,  President  Fillmore  appointed  Brigham  Young  governor  of 
Utah.  The  act  of  Congress  utterly  destroyed  the  State  of 
Deseret.  If  the  Mormons  had  been  "disloyal,"  as  has  been 
charged  all  these  years,  they  would  have  said  or  done  something 
that  would  indicate  the  fact.  What  did  they  do  ?  It  took  six 
months  for  news  of  the  act  of  Congress  to  reach  Salt  Lake 
where  it  was  received  in  February,  1851.  Within  six  weeks  the 
State  of  Deseret  was  buried  and  its  joint  legislature,  as  a  last 
act,  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions,  two  of  which  ran  as  follows: 

"Resolved-.    That   we   cheerfully  and    cordially    accept    the 


8 

legislation  of  Congress  in  the  act  to  establish  a  Territorial  gov- 
ernment for  Utah. 

"Resolved:  That  we  welcome  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States — the  legacy  of  our  fathers — over  this  Territory." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  fathers  and  grandfathers  of  many 
of  the  men  and  women  identified  with  early  Mormonism  were  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  or  in  that  of  1812. 

But  it  has  been  claimed  that  Brigham  Young  was  "Mormon- 
ism,"  that  the  State  of  Deseret  was  the  embodiment  of  his  dis- 
loyalty, and  that  the  people  were  his  "slaves."  How  did  he  re- 
ceive the  act  of  Congress  that  at  once  destroyed  his  state  ?  The 
following  is  from  a  letter  written  by  President  Young  to  the 
" Saints"  abroad  :  "Coming  to  this  place  [valley  of  the  Salt  Lake] 
as  we  did  without  the  means  of  subsistance,  except  the  labor  of 
our  hands,  in  a  wilderness  country,  surrounded  by  savages  whose 
inroads  have  given  occasion  for  many  tedious  and  ex  pensive  expe- 
ditions, the  relief  afforded  by  our  mother-land  through  the 
medium  of  the  Territoral  organization  will  be  duly  esteemed  • 
and  henceforth  we  fondly  hope  the  most  friendly  feelings  may  be 
warmly  cherished  between  the  various  states  and  territories  of 
this  great  nation,  whose  constitutional  character  is  not  to  be  ex- 
celled." 

"Brigham"  saw  his  State  of  Deseret  absolutely  annihi- 
lated and  welcomed  the  Territorial  organization  in  this  man- 
ner. There  was  no  word  of  repining  or  fault  finding.  There  was 
only  joy  that  he  and  his  people  were  once  more  under  the  old 
flag  and  Constitution. 

To  my  mind  it  is  clear  that  the  charge  of  disloyalty  against 
the  Mormons  in  Utah  hag  never  been  anything  more  than  a  false- 
hood. I  have  called  attention  to  the  formation  of  the  State  of 
Deseret  in  the  winter  of  1849.  Among  the  first  acts  of  the 
legislature  was  the  incorporation  of  several  cities.  In  Article  IV 
of  the  act  incorporating  Great  Salt  Lake  City  it  is  ordained  that : 
"The  mayor,  aldermen  and  councilors,  before  entering  upon 
their  duties,  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath  or  affirmation  that 
they  will  support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States/' 

It  has  been  ckarged  against  the  Mormons  that  they  were 
opposed  to  schools  and  education.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  con- 


sider  the  schools  question  now,  but  would  say  in  passing  the 
point  that  Section  11.  of  the  ordinance  incorporating  the  city  of 
Salt  Lake,  in  1849,  provides  for  the  establishment  of  common 
schools.  In  1850  the  legislature  incorporated  the  University  of  the 
State  of  Deseret.  Considering  how  poor  the  Mormons  were  when 
they  came  here  and  the  difficulties  with  which  they  had  to  con- 
tend, their  progress  in  education  has  been  wonderful,  their  per- 
centage of  illiteracy  being  less  to-cay  than  that  of  many  states  in 
the  Union. 

It  has  been  charged  against  the  Mormons  of  Utah,  not  only 
that  they  were  disloyal  and  opposed  to  the  education  of  their 
children,  but  that  they  were  opposed  to  railroads,  telegraphs  and 
mining.  But  what  are  the  facts  ?  In  March,  1852,  the  Mor- 
mon legislature  of  Utah  addressed  a  Memorial  to  Congress,  ask- 
ing that  body  to  "provide  for  the  establishment  of  a  national  cen- 
tral railroad"  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific.  Among  the 
reasons  given  for  asking  this  road,  I  find  this  :  "Your  memorial- 
ists are  of  the  opinion  that  the  mineral  resources  of  California 
and  these  mountains,  can  never  be  developed  to  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States,  without  such  a  road." 

When  at  last  it  was  decided  to  build  the  road,  Brigham 
Young  did  all  he  could  to  have  Salt  Lake  City  made  the  terminus 
of  both  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific.  He  wanted 
the  latter  built  around  the  south  side  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 
Failing  in  that  he  succeeded  in  bringing  the  terminus  from  Corinne 
back  to  Ogden,  and  then  he  built  thirty -eight  miles  of  road,  and 
connected  Salt  Lake  with  the  through  roads.  He  built  400 
miles  of  the  Union  Pacific,  from  Ogden  eastward  through 
the  mountains.  He  was  principal  contractor  in  the  erection  of 
the  first  transcontinental  telegraph  line,  and  the  first  message 
across  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  wire  was  signed  "Brigham 
Young/' 

As  to  mining,  it  is  true  that  Brigham  was  opposed  to  it,  but 
for  reasons  that  add  lustre  to  his  memory. 

In  1847,  the  Mormon  Battalion  was  mustered  out  of  service 
in  California.  Many  of  the  men  remained  there  and  worked 
where  they  could  obtain  employment.  While  digging  a  mill  race 
on  the  Sacramento  River,  four  Mormons  and  Thomas  Marshall 


10 

discovered  gold.  Many  Mormons  at  once  entered  upon  the  work 
of  washing  gold.  The  news  spread  over  the  country  ai.d  men 
began  to  flock  to  California,  In  1849,  some  30,000  emigrants 
passed  through  Salt  Lake  on  their  way  to  the  California  gold 
fields.  The  "craze"  affected  the  Mormons,  and  in  the  same  year 
a  company  of  them  left  for  the  mines.  In  1850,  the  Mormons 
established  a  mint  in  Salt  Lake,  and  from  the  dust  obtained  from 
the  California  mines,  coined  $2.50,  $5,  $10,  and  $20  gold 
pieces.  Men  began  to  prospect  for  gold  in  Deseret.  The  excite- 
ment became  high,  and  Brigham  said  to  the  returned  Californi- 
ans  :  "If  you  find  gold  here  say  nothing  about  it !  "  This  was 
imperative.  The  philosophy  of  the  Mormon  leader  was  in  sub- 
stance this  : 

"Thousands  of  Latter-day  Saints  are  gathering  to  Zion. 
We  are  a  thousand  miles  from  a  base  of  supplies.  The  first 
necessity  upon  us  is  to  bring  the  sage-brush  land  of  the  valleys 
into  a  state  of  productivity  that  our  people  may  live.  Opening 
mines  here  will  only  retard  that  .work.  If  you  rush  off  to  the 
mountains  and  neglect  the  farms,  the  people  will  starve.  Let  us 
first  get  our  farms  and  then  we  can  open  the  mines  and  grow 
prosperous  in  a  healthy  and  endut ing  way."  It  was  because  the 
people  acted  upon  this  advice  that  "the  Vales  of  Deseret"  soon 
became  the  wonder  of  the  continent.  That,  in  later  years, 
"Brigham"  did  not  favor  mining  in  Utah  was  because  the 
old  hatred  of  the  Mormons  in  the  east  followed  them  and  in 
1857  an  army  was  sent  to  destroy  them  which  brought  a  greater 
army  of  border  ruffians,  who  did  measureless  harm  to  the  Mor- 
mon communities,  and  Brigham  saw  that  mining  would 
but  increase  that  element.  Had  the  United  States  government 
protected  the  Mormons,  as  it  might  have  done,  instead  of  har- 
rassing  them,  Brigham  Young  would  have  lived  to  have  seen  in 
Salt  Lake  a  great  railroad  and  mining  centre,  made  so  by  his 
own  guiding  and  controlling  will.  That,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, he  was  opposed  to  mining  only  proves  the  clearness  and 
wisdom  of  his  judgment. 

Within  three  years  from  the  arrival  of  the  Pioneers  there  was 
a  community  in  Great  Salt  Lake  City  of  about  8000  people.  To  over- 
land travelers,  as  they  emerged  from  the  canyons  after  a  tedious 


11 

journey  of  500  miles  through  the  mountains,  the  appearance  of  the 
valley,  and  the  Mormon  city  was  that  of  an  oasis  in  a  desert.  The 
thing  that  impressed  all  comers  was  the  wonderful  success  that 
had  attended  the  Mormon  exodus  from  the  east  and  their  settle- 
ment in  what  had  hitherto  been  known  as  "The  Great  American 
Desert/'  Here  were  gardens  filled  with  choice  vegetables)  cot- 
tages buried  in  shrubbery,  fruits  that  made  men  eloquent  in  their 
praise  of  Mormon  thrift  and  hospitality,  little  farms  well  tilled, 
little  houses  well  filled  and  little  wives  well  willed.  Such  was  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Utah  at  the  date  of  its  organization  as  a  terri- 
tory, and  before  any  officer  had  come  to  represent  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  What  was  the  secret  of  success?  The 
Mormon  people  said  it  was  the  favor  of  the  Lord.  More  matter- 
of-fact  men  said  it  was  due  to  the  fact  that  over  them  all  was 
the  masterful  mind  of  a  great  leader  of  men,  supported  in  every 
way  by  most  competent  generals.  This  and  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood  that  made  them  in  fact  "brothers"  and  "sisters," 
tells  the  story.  They  had  formed  a  state  and  asked  for  admission 
to  the  Union.  They  did  not  get  that.  They  asked  for  a  Terri- 
torial organization.  That  came.  There  never  was  an  hour  when 
they  were  not  loyal  citizens.  They  deserved  better  treatment  than 
they  subsequently  received. 

Turnnowto  the  history  of  events  under  the  territorial  organi- 
zation. In  the  summer  of  1851  the  first  Federal  officials  arrived  in 
Great  Salt  Lake  City.  They  were  Brandebury  (chief  justice),  Broc- 
chus  and  Snow  (associate  justices)  and  Harris  (territorial  secretary) . 
They  were  cordially  received.  In  September,  1851,  a  special 
conference  of  the  Mormon  church  was  held  for  the  purpose  of 
sending  a  block  of  Utah  stone  to  Washington  to  be  placed  in  the 
monument  to  George  Washington.  It  was  an  act  of  patriotism 
that  has  been  forgotten  by  the  Mormon-haters.  The  newly 
arrived  Federal  officers  were  present  upon  the  platform  by  invi- 
tation. They  were  introduced  to  the  people.  Brocchus  made  a 
vindictive  attack  upon  the  marital  relations  of  some  of  the 
people.  He  intimated  that  polygamous  wives  were  prostitutes. 
The  occasion  afforded  no  opportunity  for  such  an  attack  and  the 
speech  was  not  well  received.  Governor  Young  asked  him  to 
come  to  meeting  on  the  subsequent  Sunday  and  explain  to  the 


12 

people  the  meaning  of  his  course.  He  declined.  The  Mormons 
so  completely  ignored  the  officials  on  account  of  this  uncalled  for 
interference,  that  they  grew  lonesome  and  Brandebury,  Broc- 
chus  and  Harris  ran  away,  the  later  carrying  with  him  $24,- 
000  belonging  to  the  Territory.  The  Secretary  of  State  demand- 
ed a  reason  for  their  desertion  of  posts  of  duty  and  Brocchus 
wrote : 

"Polygamy  monopolizes  all  the  women  in  Utah  and  makes 
it  very  inconvenient  for  Federal  officials  to  reside  there!" 

It  would  appear  from  this  that  the  secret  of  Brocchus'  attack 
was,  not  that  he  hated  polygamy,  but  that  he  was  not  in  it  and 
could  not  get  in.  The  three  were  forced  to  resign  and  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Reed  (chief  justice),  Shaver  (associate  justice)  and 
Ferris  (secretary),  in  August,  1852.  Justice  Snow  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Styles  in  1854,  the  former  having  filled  his  term  of 
office.  Reed  died  in  New  York  and  was  succeeded  by  Kinney 
(chief  justice),  August,  1853.  Ferris  wrote  a  book  against  the 
Mormons  and  ran  away.  Shaver  died  in  June,  1855,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Drummond  in  autumn  of  the  same  year.  Shaver 
had  been  a  warm  friend  of  the  Mormons  and  was  mourned  by 
them;  yet  their  enemies  did  not  hesitate  to  spread  the  report  that 
the  Mormons  had  poisoned  him.  Drummond  left  his  wife  east 
and  brought  a  female  friend  with  him.  A  sister  of  Mrs.  Drum- 
mond was  a  Mormon  wife  in  Salt  Lake.  Calling  upon  Mrs. 
Drummond,  as  she  supposed,  this  sister  made  a  discovery,  the 
result  of  which  was  that  Drummond  found  life  almost  as  lonely 
as  Brocchu*  had  done.  The  Mormon  people  deeply  resented 
the  presence  of  such  a  man  and  such  a  "companion"  as  represen- 
tatives of  the  government.  Drummond — and  his  "female 
friend" — left  Salt  Lake  in  the  autumn  of  1856  to  hold  court  in 
Carson  County  (now  Nevada) — the  "jedge"  always  took  his 
companion  upon  the  bench  with  him — but  he  never  returned. 
He  hastened  to  California  and  east  via  Panama  to  precipitate  a 
war  against  the  Mormons.  His  letter  of  resignation  was  dated 
March  30,  1857,  and  contained  many  blasting  charges  against 
the  Mormons,  among  which  were  the  assertions  that  they  had 
poisoned  judge  Shaver  and  killed  Lieutenant  Gunnison,  the  two 
men  who  had  been  their  most  staunch  non- Mormon  friends. 


13 

Later  I  will  call  attention  to   this  matter  again,  but   desire  now 
to  point  out  the  causes  that  led  to  the  "Utah  war. " 


Benton,  of  Missouri,  was  on'e  of  the  most  bitter  an ti- Mor- 
mons in  the  days  of  the  Missouri  anti -Mormon  mobs,  and  the 
murder  of  the  helpless  Latter-day  Saints.  He  became  the 
father-in-law  of  Fremont. 

When  the  persecution  of  the  Mormons  was  drawing  to  a 
head  in  Illinois,  Governor  Ford  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  advised 
Joseph  Smith  to  take  his  people  west  of  the  mountains  and  found 
a  government  on  the  soil  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Smith  seems  to  have 
determined  to  do  this,  for  in  June,  1844,  he,  with  a  party  of 
chosen  men,  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Nauvoo,  and  in  the  village 
of  Montrose  was  making  preparations  to  start  on  a  pioneer  trip 
in  search  of  a  new  home  for  his  people.  Some  inducements 
were  used  to  make  him  return  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  murdered 
in  Carthage  jail.  Had  he  lived,  it  is  thought  the  Mormon 
exodus  across  the  mountains  would  have  begun  in  1845. 

Lieutenant  Fremont  knew,  through  the  Mormon-hating 
Bentori,  what  Joseph  was  contemplating.  A  wave  of  ambition 
carried  him  across  the  mountains  in  1843,  In  1846  he  returned 
to  the  Pacific  coast  and  set  up  a  government.  Stockton  and 
Fremont  were  rival  empire-founders.  General  Kearney  was  sent 
out  to  take  command  and  form  a  civil  government  under  the 
United  States  in  California.  Fremont  refused  to  recognize  him. 
In  1846  also  the  "Mormon  Battalion"  was  recruited  from  the 
fleeing  Mormons,  mustered  into  the  army  and  sent  to  California. 
The  battalion  reached  the  coast  in  the  winter  of  1847, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Philip  St.  George 
Cooke.  Kearney  asked  him  if  the  Mormon  soldiers  could 
be  relied  upon.  Being  assured  that  they  could,  in  any 
call  in  the  name  of  the  United  States,  Kearney  arrested  Fre- 
mont and  sent  him  east  under  a  guard  composed,  in  part  at  least, 
of  Mormon  soldiers.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  when  the  Mormon  people 
were  being  driven  out  of  "the  States,"  the  government,  that  had 
never  lifted  an  arm  to  protect  them  in  life,  property  and  rights  of 
conscience,  asked  them  for  520  men  to  aid  in  the  war  with 


14 

Mexico;  the  men  were  given;  they  marched  to  California;  they 
put  down  the  first  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and 
carried  the  first  American  rebel  (with  the  exception  of  the 
Aaron  Burr  fiasco)  across  the  continent  for  trial !  In  1856, 
when  Fremont  was  nominated 'as  the  first  candidate  of  the  Re- 
publican party  for  the  presidency,  he  secured  his  revenge  upon 
those  Mormon  soldiers  by  having  a  plank  inserted  in  the  plat- 
form stigmatizing  polygamy  with  slavery  as  "the  twin  relics  of 
barbarism."  Benton  and  Fremont  were  the  parents  of  national 
political  action  against  the  Mormon  people.  They  were 
strengthened  by  the  jealousies,  hatreds  and  conspiracies  of  mean 
and  characterless  anti-Mormons  in  Utah. 

Among  the  latter  was  the  Judge  Drummond  to  whom  I  have 
referred.  Another  was  Magraw,  of  the  firm  of  "Magraw  & 
Hockaday"  of  Salt  Lake.  They  gave  a  very  poor  mail  service 
across  the  country  under  contract  with  the  government.  When 
Brigham  Young  found  he  could  get  nothing  from  Congress  for  a 
transcontinental  railroad,  he  determined  to  have  an  overland  ex- 
press. In  J856  a  Mormon  underbid  Magraw  &  Hockaday  and 
secured  the  overland  mail  contract.  Then  Magraw  and  his  part- 
ner swore  vengeance  and  on  the  3rd  of  October,  1856,  the  former 
wrote  from  Missouri  to  President  Buchanan  a  letter  containing 
terrible  charges  against  the  Mormons  and  intimating  that 
startling  things  would  soon  be  uncovered.  He  was  evidently  in 
collusion  with  Drummond  who,  soon  after;  left  Salt  Lake  to  un- 
fold the  "startling  things"  in  his  letter  of  resignation  in  March 
1857.  On  the  28th  of  May,  1857,  an  army  was  ordered  to  Utah 
to  put  down  an  alleged  rebellion  against  the  United  States.  In 
1858  Congress  asked  President  Buchanan  for  the  data  upon 
which  he  based  his  conclusion  that  such  a  rebellion  existed  and 
all  that  he  could  produce  was  these  letters  from  Magraw  and 
Drummond . 

What  was  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  Utah  as  regards  the 
loyalty  of  the  Mormons  ? 

In  the  autumn  of  1854  Colonel  Steptoe  came  to  Salt  Lake 
with  a  body  of  United  States  soldiers.  They  were  well  received. 
Brigham's  term  of  office  had  just  expired  and  President  Pierce 
asked  the  colonel  to  accept  the  office  of  Governor  of  Utah. 


15 

declined  and  sent  a  petition  to  the  President  signed  by  all  the 
army  officers,  all  the  Federal  officers  and  all  the  prominent  "gen- 
tiles"  in  Utah  asking  that  Brigham  Young  be  re-appointed  gov: 
ernor  and  agent  of  Indian  affairs.  That  petition  is  irrefragable 
evidence  that  up  to  the  autumn  of  1854  there  was  no  suspicion 
that  the  Mormons  were  disloyal  or  bent  upon  "rebellion."  In 
the  month  of  March,  1856,a  convention  representing  all  the  people  of 
Utah  was  held  in  Salt  Lake,  to  frame  a  state  constitution.  That 
was  done  and  both  Mormons  and  non-Mormons  signed  the  con- 
stitution and  delegates  were  sent  to  Washington  asking  admis- 
sion into  the  Union.  In  answer  they  got  the  declaration  of  the 
new  Republican  party  that  polygamy  and  slavery  are  twin-relics 
of  barbarism.  At  that  time  there  were  75,000  people  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

Were  the  people-  in  a  condition  to  enter   upon  a   rebellion 
against  the  government  ? 

In  the  summer  of  1854  grasshoppers  destroyed  the  crops 
and  in  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1854  and  1855,  the  people,  many 
of  them,  were  very  short  of  provisions.  In  1855  the  grasshop- 
pers destroyed  the  crops  again^  and  for  a  year  the  people  of  Utah 
were  on  rations,  and  many  of  them  dug  roots  for  food,  cut  up  and 
cooked  and  ate  the  hides  that  had  been  used  to  cover  their  huts. 
The  "hand-cart  brigade"  was  so  near  starvation  in  1856  that 
the  raw- hide  boxes  were  taken  from  the  hubs  of  their  wheels, 
where  they  had  soaked  in  grease  for  months,  cooked  and  eaten. 
That  was  tenderloin !  If  a  family  was  lucky  enough  to  get  a 
soup  bone,  it  was  boiled  day  after  day  as  a  basis  for  consomme. 
Children  were  sent  to  neighbors  to  say:  "Ma  wants  to  know  if 
you  will  loan  her  your  soup  bone  to-day."  Even  after  the  bone L 
had  lost  its  substance  and  savor  as  an  appetite  annihilator,  faith, 
as  a  hope  for  things  not  seen,  would  perhaps  induce  the  hungry 
children  to  hang  the  bone  in  the  window  and  boil  its  shadow  in 
the  pot.  The  families  of  "Brigham"  and  "Heber"  were  on  ra- 
tions with  the  rest,  but  their  doors  were  never  closed  to  the 
suffering.  From  the  spring  of  1855  to  the  autumn  of  1856, 
about  the  only  thing  in  Utah  was  appetite,  dry,  hot,  unrelenting 
APPETITE!  The  most  unhappy  men  were  the  doctors  and  dentists. 
The  people  were  so  thin  they  could  not  be  bled.  Having  nothing 


16 
i 

to  eat,  they  had  no  use  for  teeth,  and  those  who  had  tooth  ache 
loved  it  because  it  made  them  forget  their  stomachs  !  The  only 
rebellion  in  Utah  all  through  those  horrible  years  was  in  the 
stomachs  of  the  starving  people.  An  old  man  said  to  me  in 
Epbraim:  "What  you  say  of  the  famine  is  true,  oh  yes,  true ! 
I  was  in  it.  Two  years  I  ate  no  bread.  In  '56  the  first  wheat 
was  ripe  in  Spanish  Fork,  and  Bishop  Snell's  father  cut  it  and 
had  it  ground,  and  all  the  people  got  it  free  and  made  bread, 
and  you  just  bet  it  was  sweet !  " 

The  grasshoppers  did  not  come  in  '56 ;  the  crops  were  boun- 
tiful ;  appetite  was  appeased,  and  there  was  no  more  sign  of  re- 
bellion in  Utah  then  than  there  is  to-day.  But  what  was  the 
matter  with  the  grasshoppers  ?  They  had  heard  from  Fremont, 
Drummond  and  Magraw ;  they  seemed  to  know  of  the  infamous 
hatred  against  the  Mormons,  and  a  conscientious  impulse  deter- 
mined them  not  to  be  caught  aiding  such  an  inhuman  scheme  of 
annihilation  !  Besides,  they  may  have  wanted  the  Mormons 
spared  to  raise  food  for  them  in  after  years  !  -I  have  a  sincere 
respect  for  the  character  of  those  grasshoppers.  It  stands 
out  well  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  conspirators  who 
were  seeking  to  destroy  the  Mormons  ! 

The  winter  of  '56  and  '57  was  very  severe,  and  there  were 
no  mails.  When  the  army  was  ordered  to  Utah  in  the  spring 
of  '57  the  mails  were  held  back.  The  Mormons  heard  nothing 
from  the  east  from  November,  1856,  until  a  messenger  arrived  in 
July,  1857.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  outcry  against  them, 
nothing  of  the  coming  army.  July  24th,  1857,  was  the  tenth 
anniversary  of  the  coming  of  the  Pioneeis.  They  determined  to 
have  ajgrand  celebration.  There  were  no  grasshoppers  in  sight, 
the  crops  promised  well,  the  people  were  prosperous  and  happy. 
On  the  24th,  thousands  of  them  gathered  in  Big  Cottonwood 
Canyon  for  the  celebration.  The  stars  and  stripes  floated  from 
many  a  tree  top,  cannon  woke  the  echoes  from  crag  to  crag, 
hymns  rose,  songs  were  sung,  there  was  dancing  also,  and  joy 
sat  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  men  and  women  who  thanked 
God  that  they  possessed  the  blessings  of  home,  of  country  and 
religion.  Into  the  midst  of  the  festivities  came  a  swift  messen- 
ger, who  had  traveled  513  miles  in  five  days  and  three  hours,  to 


17 

tell  the  people  that  the  mails  were  stopped  and  an  army  was 
coming  to  destroy  them  !  It  was  a  startling  announcement . 
There,  in  the  shadows  of  the  eternal,  cloud-compelling  mountains, 
with  darker  shadows  swift-risen  upon  their  hearts,  were  men  and 
women  who  had  escaped  from  the  angry  mobs  of  other  days  at 
Far  West,  Kirtland  and  Nauvoo.  Into  the  sunshine  of  their 
present  joy,  suddenly  rose  the  blood-red  vision  of  the  past.  Again 
they  saw  the  angry  populace  pressing  upon  them ;  saw  their 
fathers  murdered;  their  wives  and  daughters  distained,  dis- 
honored ;  saw  the  soil  soaked  with  the  blood  of  their  loved 
ones  ;  saw  their  homes  destroyed  and  themselves  driven  empty- 
handed  into  a  world  that  gave  them  nothing  but  curses  and  blows. 

Now  that  was  all  coming  upon  them  again,  but  this  time 
it  was  the  tread  of  the  nation's  soldiers  they  heard  in  the  dis- 
tance. It  was  indeed  a  tearful  and  a  fearful  hour,  as  the 
blanched  faces  of  mothers  and  children  turned  in  painful  sus- 
pense to  hear  what  their  leader  would  say. 

Good  anti-Mormon  readers,  I  pray  you  put  yourselves  in  their 
places!  Supposing  that  you  had  gone  through  the  same  experi- 
ence that  had  been  the  hard  lot  of  those  driven  Mormons,  tell  me 
what  you  would  have  done  under  the  same  circumstances!  With 
rising  hearts  you  listen  to  tales  of  heroism  handed  down  from 
the  mouldering  past.  You  never  tire  of  honoring  the  men  who 
in  the  long  ago  breasted  the  iron  hail  of  pike  and  battle-axe  in 
defence  of  home  and  loved  ones.  You  have  tears  for 
the  brave,  and  crowns.  You  have  honor  for  every  hero 
who  smote  tyranny  to  make  way  for  liberty  in  all  the  ages  gone. 
Tell  me,  then,  what  you  would  have  done  had  you  stood  where 
stood  those  Mormons  on  that  awful  day,  your  faces  wet  with 
tears  of  memory  and  your  hearts  appalled  at  the  threatening 
danger  marching  swiftly  over  the  plains!  Would  you  have  fal- 
len upon  your  bellies  and  crawled  like  whipped  curs  to  lick  the 
feet  that  came  to  spurn  you,  to  kiss  the  bayonet  as  it  entered 
your  heart?  Would  you  have  waited  tamely  to  see  your  homes 
once  more  destroyed  and  then  turned  away  to  tramp  another 
thousand  miles  beyond  the  land  of  boasted  freedom,  to  seek 
another  spot  where  your  hymns  might  arise  without  offense 
to  other  sects  that  were  envious  of  you?  No!  Had  you  been 


18 

men  you  would  have  stood  up  and  said,  as  did  Brigham  Young : 
"We  have  transgressed  no  law,  neither  do  we  intend  so  to  do, 
and  as  for  any  nation  coming  to  destroy  this  people,  God  Al- 
mighty helping  me,  it  shall  not  be!"  When  the  wolves  of  big- 
otry that  have  yelped  for  years  around  the  Mormon  people  are 
forgotten,  that  speech  of  Brigham  Young  will  shine  in  the 
annals  of  heroism. 

From  that  hour  Brigham  Young  moved  the  great  com- 
mander that  he  was.  The  Mormon  defense  was  organized  at 
once.  A  trusted  messenger  was  sent  to  Washington  with  Gov- 
ernor Young's  prompt  avowal  that  no  army  would  be  allowed 
to  enter  the  Territory.  That  messenger  was  accompanied 
by  scouts,  one  of  whom  returned  from  each  body  of  troops  that 
was  met,  so  that  long  before  the  army  entered  the  mountains 
Brigham  knew  all  about  it.  That  messenger  speeded  from 
Washington  to  England  and  sent  home  every  Mormon  who  had  a 
family  to  protect  in  Utah.  Everything  moved  on  the  straightest 
line  to  the  goal  under  the  guiding  will  of  the  great  leader.  Be- 
fore a  messenger  from  the  army  reached  Salt  Lake,  the  Mormon 
people  were  ready  for  action  in  defending  their  homes,  or 
to  destroy  them,  if  that  became  necessary. 

In  September  came  Captain  Van  Vliet  from  the  army.  He 
met  no  opposition,  but  soon  learned  that  the  Mormon  people  had 
fully  decided  what  to  do.  He  found  a  people  terribly  in  earnest. 
Governor  Young  said  to  him:  "We  do  not  want  to  fight  the 
United  States,  but  if  they  drive  us  to  it,  we  will  do  the  best  we 
can.  We  are  supporters  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  We  love  that  Constitution  and  respect  the  laws,  but  it  is 
by  the  corrupt  administration  of  those  laws  that  we  have  been 
made  to  suffer."  In  the  captain's  report  to  his  commanding 
officer,  he  said:  "The  governor  received  me  most  cordially  and 
treated  me  during  my  stay  with  the  greatest  hospitality  and 
kindness.  He  stated  that  the  Mormons  had  been  persecuted, 
murdered  and  robbed  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  both  by  the  mob 
and  State  authorities  and  that  therefore  he  and  the  people  of 
Utah  had  determined  to  resist  all  persecution  at  the  commence- 
ment, and  that  the  troops  now  on  the  march  for  Utah  should  not 
enter  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley/'  The  captain  told  the  gov- 


19 

ernor  that  while  he  might  prevent  the  present  force  from  enter- 
ing, a  larger  force  would  come  in  the  spring.  Governor  Young 
replied:  "We  are  aware  of  that,  but  when  that  army  comes, 
Utah  will  be  a  desert.  .  .  .  We  will  cache  our  provisions, 
take  to  the  mountains  and  bid  defiance  to  all  the  powers  of  the 
government." 

Then  the  governor  issued  a  proclamation  from  which  I  quote: 
"For  the  last  twenty-five  years  we  have  trusted  officials  of  the 
government  from  constables  and  justices  to  judges,  governors  and 
presidents,  only  to  be  scorned,  held  in  derision,  insulted  and  be- 
trayed. Our  opponents  have  availed  themselves  of  prejudices 
against  us  to  send  a  formidable  host  to  accomplish  our  destruction. 
We  have  had  no  privilege,  no  opportunity  of  defending  ourselves 
from  the  false,  foul  and  unjust  aspersions  against  us  before  the 
nation.  .  .  .  Our  duty  to  ourselves,  to  our  families,  re- 
quires us  not  to  tamely  submit  to  be  driven  and  slain,  without 
an  attempt  to  preserve  ourselves.  .  .  .  Therefore,  I,  Brigham 
Young,  Governor  of  Utah,  forbid  all  armed  forces  of  every 
description  from  coming  into  this  Territory  under  any  pretense 
whatever." 

That  was  done  September  15th,  1857.  It  was  certainly  a 
defiance  of  the  government,  and  yet  I  believe  the  circumstances 
justified  it.  The  colonists  had  less  cause  to  rebel  against  Great 
Britain  than  the  Mormons  had  to  resist  the  coming  of  an  army 
to  crush  them  for  an  alleged  rebellion  that  never  existed.  The 
colonists  [had  not  been  mobbed,  murdered  and  driven  from  their 
homes.  The  Mormons  had  been.  They  finally  left  the  country 
for  safety.  They  formed  a  government  and  then  asked  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union.  Instead,  they  got  a  territorial  govern- 
ment which  they  accepted  gladly.  They  made  a  fruitful  land  out 
of  what  had  long  been  considered  a  desert.  Malicious  men  had 
aroused  the  nation  against  them  and  an  army  was  at  their  doors. 
To  them  the  coming  of  that  army  could  mean  only  the  old  strife 
renewed.  It  meant  murder,  robbery  and  a  new  exodus  into  the 
unknown.  They  resolved  to  resist  and  I  maintain  that  they  did 
only  what  any  other  people  would  have  done  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  I  believe  the  verdict  of  impartial  history  will  be 
that  they  did  right. 


20 

Of  course,  the  troops  came  on.  Governor  Young  sent  out  his 
forces  to  meet  them.  The  commanding  officer  of  the  approach- 
ing army  said  he  should  enter  the  valley.  Governor  Young  wrote 
him : — "If  you  come  here  for  peaceful  purposes  you  have  no 
use  for  weapons  of  war.  We  wish  and  ever  have  wished  for  peace 
as  our  bitterest  enemies  know  full  well ;  and  though  the 
wicked  with  the  administration  at  their  head,  have  determined 
that  we  shall  have  no  peace,  except  it  be  to  lie  down  in  death,  in 
the  name  of  Israel's  God  we  will  have  peace,  even  though  we  be 
compelled  by  our  enemies  to  fight  for  it ! " 

In  those  days  Brigham  and  his  compatriots  said  many 
things  that  sound  harsh  and  fanatical  and  even  rebellious  now, 
but  we  have  only  to  be  broad  and  fair  enough  to  consider  the  ma- 
licious causes  working  against  them  to  see  and  say  that  any  other 
people  in  the  same  trying  position  would  have  said  substantially 
the  same.  Few  men,  however,  would  have  extricated  a  people 
from  a  most  perilous  situation  as  skilfully  as  did  that  master  Mor- 
mon. He  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance.  Knowing  that 
the  charges  against  the  Mormons  were  based  on  malicious  misrep- 
resentation, his  hope  was  to  keep  the  army  back  until  the  Presi- 
dent could  be  induced  to  send  men  to  Utah  in  whom  he  could 
trust  for  the  truth.  It  was  to  carry  out  this  plan  that  Brigham 
worked.  Colonel  Kane  to  whom  his  messenger  was  sent,  was  a 
noble  coadjutor.  He  was  a  grand  man  who  could  neither  have 
been  exalted  or  debased  by  membership  in  any  church.  He 
was  ever  the  friend  of  the  oppressed.  He  induced  Buchanan  to 
send  a  peace  commission  as  soon  as  the  melting  snows  would 
allow  them  to  cross  the  mountains,  and  he  himself,  though  sick, 
became  a  special  envoy  from  the  President  to  Governor  Young, 
making  the  journey  to  Utah  by  Panama  and  California, 
arriving  in  Salt  Lake  in  midwinter  of  1857. 

But,  of  course,  while  Brigham  was  waiting  to  get  a  Commis- 
sion from  Washington  the  coming  army  must  be  held  at  bay, 
For  that  purpose  the  Utah  militia  was  mobilized.  Years  and  years 
ago  I  used  to  read  of  the  wonderful  power  of  the  Mormons. 
One  of  the  adduced  proofs  was  that  they  had  produced  an  army 
better  uniformed  and  equipped  than  were  the  United  States 
troops.  Much  fun  have  I  had  in  these  my  Utah  years  in  study- 


21 

ing  that  old   tale.      There  were  about  1200  of  the  Utah  militia. 
George  A.  Smith,  one  of  the  Mormon  apostles,  said  in  regard   to 
the  charge  that  the  Mormons  were  rebels  because  they    were    so 
well  uniformed:     "I  know  all  about  that  uniform.      I    helped  to 
fit  out  many  of  the  men,  and  I  tell  you  there  weren't  any  two  of 
them   uniformed   alike — by    gracious,    I  don't   believe   any  one 
of  them  was  uniformed  alike  !  "      That  was  just   after  the  grass- 
hopper war  and  people  were  poor.      Clothing  was    very   scarce. 
Overcoats  were  unknown  quantities,  as  a  rule.      There    were   no 
supplies  of  underclothing,  and  it   was    coming   winter.     Women 
emptied  beds,  cut  up  the"ticks"  and  make  shirts  for  the  soldiers. 
Rag  carpets  were  taken  up  and  made  into  pants,  and  gunnysacks 
were  utilized  for  Wellington  boots.     There  were  pants    without 
bottoms,  and  bottoms  without  pants  before  they  got  through  the 
winter.     There  were  hickory  pants  with  ticking  patches  on  the 
seat  of  custom,  and  there  were  pants  made  from  cows'  hair.    The 
women  gathered  the  hair,  mixed  in  a  little  wool,  carded  it,  spun  it, 
wove  it  and  made  it  into  garments  for  the  men.     Ah  me,  what  a 
motley  crew  must  have  been  that  uniformed  Utah  militia  as  it  went 
on  duty  to  keep  the  invader  from  its  homes!  The  equipments,  too! 
Old  muskets  with  barrels  and  no  locks  and  old  locks  with  stocks 
and  no  barrels.     Swords  without  scabbards  and  scabbards  with- 
out swords!     Pistols  that  went  off  only  when  they  were  carried. 
But  they  were  men,  those  Mormon  militiamen,  who  were  armed 
with  a  cause  that  was  just  and  hence  they  were  thrice  armed!     It 
were  well  for  the  nation  to  keep  such  men  its  friends.     Looking 
back  at  it  all,  the  charge  of  "rebellion"is  seen  to  have  been  a  lie  and 
the  action  of  the  Mormons  in  keeping  that  army  out  seems  like 
a  joke.     There  was  Lot  Smith,  the  dashing  cavalry  commander 
of  the   Utah   militia.     With  twenty-three  half  naked  and  ragged 
Mormons  armed  with  old  knives  and  such  guns  as  they  could  get, 
he  corralled  and  burnt  a  train  of  fifty-two  government  wagons 
loaded  with  stores  and  protected  by  more  than  half  a  hundred 
well  armed  men.     The  hateful  stories  against  the  Mormons  made 
them  a  terroi  to  the  soldiers.     They  accomplished  all  for  which 
they  were  put  into  the  field,  and  yet  they  did  not  shed  one  drop  of 
human  blood!      They  held  the  army  back  until  snow  came  and 
banked  them  in  at  Camp  Scott.     When  the  snows  were  gone  all 


22 

danger  had  melted  away;  Brigham  Young  was  master  of  the 
situation. 

Colonel  Kane  went  to  Camp  Scott  in  March,  1858,  with  an 
escort  of  Utah  militia.  He  was  arrested  as  a  Mormon  spy,  but 
feeble  as  he  was  is  said  to  have  broken  a  gun  stock  over  the  head 
of  the  man  who  attempted  to  force  the  indignity  upon  him,  and 
then  he  challenged  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston.  He  per- 
suaded Governor  Gumming,  who  had  been  appointed  to  super- 
cede  Governor  Young,  to  put  trust  in  the  Mormons  and  go  with 
him  to  Salt  Lake.  On  the  5th  of  April  they  left  camp.  Many 
a  greyheaded  "Saint"  has  told  me  of  the  fun  the  militia  had  with 
the  governor  going  through  Echo  Canyon.  The  road 
was  very  crooked.  At  each  curve  where  it  touched  the 
cliffs  was  a  fire,  a  lot  of  men  and  a  salute  for  the 
governor.  But  it  was  night  and  the  governor  could  not  see  that 
a  dozen  men  were  doing  it  all,  and  while  the  team  was  getting 
over  a  long  crook  in  the  road,  they  were  hurrying  across  by  short 
cuts  and  making  ready  to  receive  him  with  uniformed-Utah-mili- 
tia honors.  The  governor  made  up  his  mind  the  woods  were 
full  of  Mormons  and  was  no  doubt  surprised  that  they  did  not 
roast  him  on  one  of  their  fires. 

The  party  reached  Salt  Lake  on  the  12th  of  April,  1858. 
Ex-Governor  Young  called  on  Governor  Gumming  and  the  two 
men  became  fast  friends.  On  the  15th  of  April  the  governor 
addressed  a  note  to  the  commander  of  the  army  at  Camp  Scott,  in 
which  he  said:  "I  have  everwhere  been  recognized  as  Gover- 
nor of  Utah;  and  so  far  from  having  encountered  insults  or  in- 
dignities, I  have  been  universally  greeted  with  such  respectful 
attentions  as  are  due  to  the  representative  authority  of  the 
United  States  in  the  Territory."  Of  Brigham  Young  he  said  in 
the  same  note:  "He  has  evinced  a  willingness  to  afford  me 
every  facility  I  may  require  for  the  efficient  performance  of  my 
administrative  duties."  In  a  letter  to  Secretary  Lewis  Cass,  of 
May  2nd,  1858,  enclosing  copy  of  letter  to  General  Johnston,  the 
governor  says:  "Since  my  arrival,  I  have  been  employed  in 
examining  the  records  of  the  Supreme  and  District  Courts,  which 
I  am  now  prepared  to  report  as  being  perfect  and  unimpaired." 
It  will  be  remembered  that  I  promised  to  refer  again  to  "Judge" 


23 

Drummond's  charge  against  the  Mormons  in  his  letter  of  resigna- 
tion. One  of  his  malevolent  assertions  was  that  the  Mormons 
had  destroyed  the  records  of  these  courts.  Meantime  the  Mor- 
mons had  deserted  their  homes.  In  the  same  letter  to  Secretary 
of  State  Cass,  the  governor  speaks  of  this  new  exodus:  "Tjie 
roads  are  everywhere  filled  with  wagons  loaded  with  provisions 
and  household  furniture,  the  women  and  children  often  without 
shoes  or  hats,  driving  their  flocks  they  know  not  where.  They 
seem  not  only  resigned,  but  cheerful.  .  .  .  Young,  Kimball 
and  most  of  the  influential  men  have  left  their  commodious  man- 
sions, without  apparent  regret,  to  lengthen  the  long  train  of 
wanderers."  On  the  10th  of  June,  1858,  President  Buchanan 
submitted  this  letter  to  Congress  and  referring  to  Governor 
Cumming's  communication  says:  "From  this  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  our  difficulties  with  the  Territory  of  Utah  have 
terminated,  and  the  reign  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  have  been 
restored."  Poor  old  man,  why  could  he  not  have  admitted  that  he 
had  been  deceived  by  Drummond,  Magraw  and  others,  and  that 
the  Mormons  had  never  for  an  hour  "gone  back"  on  the  Constitu- 
tion ?  His  blunder  cost  the  nation  twenty  millions  of  dollars, 
and  the  Mormons  untold  suffering  and  loss. 

Late  in  May,  1858,  Governor  Gumming  brought  his  family 
in  from  Camp  Scott  and  the  extent  of  the  exodus  may  be 
measured  by  his  wife's  surprise.  Speaking  of  Salt  Lake  she 
said  :  "It  has  the  appearance  of  a  city  that  has  been  afflicted 
with  a  plague  !  [It  had  !]  Every  house  looks  like  a  tomb  of 
the  dead  !  For  two  miles  I  have  seen  but  one  man  in  it ! "  She 
appealed  to  her  husband  to  bring  them  back.  In  reply  he  said  '• 
"I  only  wish  I  could  be  in  Washington  for  two  hours ;  I  am . 
persuaded  I  could  convince  the  government  that  we  have  no  need 
for  troops !  "  Such  was  the  voice  of  the  man  who  had  started 
for  Utah  with  an  army,  believing  that  the  Mormons  were  rebels, 
trying  to  destroy  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

Early  in  June,  1858,  a  Peace  Commission  arrived  from  Wash- 
ington. Brigham  and  a  strong  guard  returned  to  Salt  Lake  to 
meet  them.  The  commissioners  brought  a  proclamation  from 
President  Buchanan,  charging  the  Mormons  with  being  traitors, 
and  accusing  them  of  many  other  crimes,  for  all  of  which  full 


24 

pardon  was  granted.  The  commissioners  assured  the  Mormon 
leaders  that  the  commander  of  the  troops  had  promised  not  to 
move  until  their  labors  as  commissioners  were  terminated. 
At  the  first  session  a  messenger  from  the  mountains  announced 
that  the  ajmy  was  coming.  That  roused  the  people  anew.  Next 
day  Brigham  made  a  speech  that  reveals  some  fanaticism,  a  little 
buncombe,  a  portion  of  bravado  and  a  great  deal  of  courage  of  the 
highest  order.  It  is  too  long  to  quote  here,  but  a  few  sentences 
may  be  given.  He  began  by  saying:  "I  thank  President 
Buchanan  for  forgiving  me,  bul  really  I  cannot  tell  what  I  have 
done.  I  know  one  thing,  the  people  called  ' Mormons/  are  a  loyal 
and  law-abiding  people,  and  have  ever  been.  True,  Lot  Smith 
burned  some  wagons  and  supplies  belonging  to  the  army.  If  it 
is  for  this  we  are  to  be  pardoned,  I  accept  the  pardon.  Yet 
for  that,  combined  with  false  reports,  the  whole  Mormon  people 
are  to  be  destroyed  ....  What  has  the  United  States 
government  permitted  mobs  to  do  to  us  ?  We  have  been  whipped 
and  plundered  ;  our  houses  burned ;  our  fathers,  mothers,  broth- 
ers, sisters  and  children  butchered  by  the  scores.  We  have  been 
driven  from  our  homes  time  and  again,  but  have  troops  ever 
been  sent  to  stay  or  punish  those  mobs  ?  No !  Have  we  ever 
received  a  dollar  for  the  property  we  have  been  compelled  to  leave 
behind  ?  Not  a  dollar !  Let  the  government  treat  us  as  we 
deserve.  This  is  all  we  ask  of  them.  We  have  always  been  loyal 
and  expect  to  continue  so,  but  hands  off.  Do  not  send  your 
armed  mobs  into  our  midst.  If  you  do  we  will  fight  you,  as  the 
Lord  lives !  .  .  .  Our  wives  and  children  will  go  to  the 
canyons  and  take  shelter  in  the  mountains,  while  their  husbands 
and  sons  will  fight  you  .  .  .  No  mob  can  live  in  the  homes 
we  have  built  in  these  mountains.  That's  the  programme,  gen- 
tlemen commissioners,  whether  you  like  it  or  not.  If  you  want 
war  you  can  have  it.  If  you  wish  for  peace,  peace  it  is,  we  shall 
be  glad  of  it/' 

In  the  proclamation  sent  out  by  President  Buchanan,  dated 
April  6;  1858,  it  was  averred:  "Officers  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment have  been  driven  from  the  Territory  for  no  offense  but  an 
effort  to  do  their  sworn  duty/'  Let  us  see.  Chief  Justice 
Brandebury,  Justice  Brocchus  and  Secretary  Harris  came  in 


25 

1851,  made  an  attack  on  polygamy  and  were  let  so  severely  alone 
that  they  ran  away.  Not  a  hand  was  raised,  not  a  threat  made 
against  them.  In  1855  came  Judge  Drummond,  with  his 
"female  friend,"  said  to  have  been  an  ancient  flame  of  a  famous 
senator,  in  Washington.  When  the  Mormon  people  learned  of  his 
perfidy  they  treated  him  with  the  same  silent  contempt  that  they 
had  shown  to  Brocchus  et  «/.,  and  in  a  year  he  ran  away.  In  four 
years  four  federal  officers  ran  away  from  Utah  because  they  had 
attempted  to  meddle  with  matters  outside  of  their  "sworn  duty" 
and  the  Mormons  had  simply  let  them  alone.  I  might  add  here 
that  Governor  Dawson  came  in  1861  as  the  successor  of  Governor 
Gumming.  He  made  indecent  proposals  to  a  Mormon  lady  and 
ran  away,  having  been  here  but  a  few  weeks.  Dawson  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Governor  Harding.  His  house-keeper  became  endente. 
She  swore  that  either  Governor  Harding  or  his  son  was  father  of 
her  child.  The  governor  and  his  sou  ran  away  to  escape  prosecu- 
tion for  adultery'.  The  President's  proclamation  further 
declared:  " Others  [federal  officers]  have  been  prevented  from 
going  there  [to  Utah]  by  threats  of  assassination."  In  1849  Lieu- 
tenant Stansbury  was  informed  that  if  he  went  to  Salt  Lake  the 
Mormons  would  murder  him.  He  came  in  and  met  no  opposi- 
tion; remained  a  year  and  said  the  Mormons  had  done  all  they 
eould  to  aid  him.  Governor  Gumming  was  informed  that  the 
Mormons  would  kill  him.  When  he  came  in  he  wrote  back  to 
General  Johnston  that  he  had  been  everywhere  received  as  the 
governor  of  the  Territory  and  had  been  shown,  by  all,  the  respect 
due  to  a  representative  of  the  national  government.  All  of 
which  confirms  my  statement  that  the  famous  "Utah  rebellion" 
existed  only  in  the  imagination  of  evil-minded  persons  who 
wanted  the  Mormons  driven  out  of  Utah  or  annihilated. 

r 

Brigham  agreed  with  the  peace  commissioners  that  the  army 
should  march  through  the  city,  if  it  would  go  forty  miles  beyond 
it.  The  "programme"  was  accepted  and  there  was  a  nominal 
"peace."  The  army  came  on.  The  Mormons  joined  their  people 
in  the  exodus  southward.  About  300  men  were  left  con- 
cealed in  Salt  Lake  prepared  to  destroy  the  city  if  the  terms  were 
violated.  The  army  reached  the  city  about  the  24th  of  June. 
From  early  morn  to  set  of  sun,  the  long  train  moved  through  the 


26 

city  that  had  left  none  so  poor  as  to  do  it  reverence.  It  was  like 
marching  through  a  graveyard  when  you  were  too  lonesome  even 
to  whistle!  The  only  sign  of  life  was  the  appearance  of  an 
abandoned  Mormon  chicken,  forgotten  in  "the  move,"  now  and 
again  seen  on  the  cobblestone  walls  about  the  "Beehive"  corner 
announcing  in  a  crow  of  mingled  defiance  and  regret,  "theres-no- 
Mormons-he-e-e-e-r-r-e  !  "  General  Johnston  kept  the  terms,  the 
army  crossed  the  Jordan  and  on  to  Camp  Floyd,  from  whence  it 
was  recalled  to  serve  in  the  civil  war  and  from  whence  Johnston 
went  to  die  in  rebel  uniform  on  Shiloh^s  hard  fought  field.  God 
rest  his  soul. 

Governor  Gumming  and  the  commissioners  followed  the  mov- 
ing people  and  plead  with  them  to  return.  On  the  5th  of  July, 
1858,  Brigham  told  the  people  that  he  would  go  back  and  they 
should  do  as  they  thought  best.  Many  followed  him  and  many 
remained  in  the  south  and  made  new  homes,  having  no  faith  that 
the  promises  of  peace  and  protection  would  be  kept.  As  the 
people  came  home  they  found  the  streets  green  with  knot- 
grass and  the  houses  just  as  they  had  been  abandoned.  But 
alas  !  the  people  were  so  poor  that  they  were  almost  naked ! 
From  the  coming  of  the  grasshoppers  in  1854  they  had  had  little 
but  want  and  woe.  But  with  a  courage  as  divine  as  ever  swelled 
a  heart  they  began  life  once  more  at  the  bottom.  The  story  of 
that  living  martyrdom  of  women  and  children  should  make  the 
heart  of  the  nation  ache  with  pity  and  remorse! 

For  a  time  the  peace  was  kept,  but  soon  the  federal  officers 
were  importuning  the  governor  to  have  the  Mormon  leaders  tried 
for  treason.  To  all  such  efforts  Governor  Gumming  opposed  a 
sturdy  "by  G — d,  gentlemen,  you  can't  do  it !  "  The  federal 
judges  appealed  to  General  Johnston  for  troops  in  the  towns  where 
they  held  court.  Johnston,  eager  to  overcome  the  governor,  sent 
them;  the  people  protested.  The  governor  ordered  the  troops 
withdrawn.  He  was  disobeyed.  The  federal  judges  induced 
Johnston  to  attempt  to  march  a  large  part  of  his  army  into  Salt 
Lake  and  seize  Brigham.  The  governor  called  out  the  Utah 
militia  and  Johnston  did  not  come. 

J.  S.  Black,  United  States  Attorney- General,  sent  the  federal 
judges  an  opinion,  condemning  their  action  in  calling  for 


27 

troops,  ordered  the  troops  withdrawn,  to  remain  subject  to  the 
commands  of  the  governor.  Then  the  judges  broke  up  their 
courts.  One  of  them,  Cradlebaugh,  with  Judge  Sinclair,  had  been 
determined  to  have  the  Mormon  leaders  tried  for  treason,  refusing 
to  admit  that  President  Buchanan's  pardon  of  them  had  wiped 
out  their  alleged  crimes.  Finding  that  he  could  not  get  those 
men  into  court  he  said  to  the  grand  jury  as  he  discharged  it: 
"If  this  court  cannot  bring  you  to  a  proper  sense  of  your  duty  it 
can  at  least  turn  the  savages  held  in  custody  loose  upon  you  !  " 
That,  too,  he  did — adjourned  court  sine  die  and  let  the  prisoners 
go.  Anti-Mormons,  including  United  States  officials,  stirred  up 
the  Indians  to  make  war  upon  the  Mormons,  bribing  them  with 
guns,  ammunition,  blankets,  etc.  It  took  the  Mormons  ten  years 
to  overcome  the  trouble  then  made  among  the  Indians. 

The  people  were  excited  to  a  painful  degree  and  under  a  less 
powerful  head  would  have  rushed  into  conflict  that  could  have 
ended  only  in  their  annihilation  and  the  extermination  of  Mor- 
monism.  But  Brigham  controlled  and  saved  his  people  and  made 
for  Mormonism  a  place  among  the  world-religions.  In  those 
trying  times,  Brigham  Young  showed  himself  a  wonderful  leader 
and  a  mighty  man,  whose  equal  the  world  has  not  often  seen. 
Through  it  all  he  held  his  people  up  to  his  own  faith  in  Ameri- 
can liberty,  and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1859,  the  Mormons  held  a 
grand  celebration.  Then  came  the  rebellion  and  civil  war.  The 
Mormons  had  won  against  force,  but  they  were  soon  to  find 
themselves  confronted  by  the  hydra  of  politics. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  Mormons  sending  no  soldiers 
to  help  the  Union  in  the  war,  and  I  had  been  led  to  believe  that 
they  refrained  from  feelings  of  disloyalty.  I  had  even  been 
assured  by  an  anti-Mormon  of  Salt  Lake  that  they  offered 
to  recruit  a  regiment  for  the  South.  When  I  asked  why  the 
offer  was  not  accepted,  I  was  told  that  General  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  to  whom  the  offer  is  said  to  have  been  made,  refused  to 
accept  the  men,  because  it  would  turn  the  North  against  the  Mor- 
mons, and  cause  their  destruction. 

The  weakness  of  this  story  is  seen  in  the  fact   that  Johnston 
was  the  man  who  had  been  for  years  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  Mor 
mons,and  had  they  wanted  to  send  troops   to  aid  the  South,  he 


28 

would  have  been   about .  the   only  rebel  to  whom  they  would  not 
have  gone. 

Furthermore,  it  is  not  surprising,  when  we  consider  what  the 
Mormon  had  undergone  between  1854  and  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war,  that  they  did  not  feel  called  upon  to  offer  their  services. 
But  I  find  that  in  1862,  Ben.  Halliday,  who  was  running  the  over- 
land mail,  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  asked  for  troops  to  protect 
the  mail  against  the  Indians.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  would  see 
what  could  be  done,  but  asked  Halliday  what  he  would  advise. 
The  reply  was  that  if  he  were  president  he  would  telegraph  to 
Brigham  Young,  asking  him  to  raise  a  company  of  men,  have  them 
mustered  in  as  United  States  troops,  and  send  them  out.  Mr. 
Lincoln  would  see  what  could  be  done.  In  a  short  time  Halli- 
day called  upon  him  again.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  it  was  utterly 
impossible  to  spare  men  from  the  front.  Halliday  again  suggested 
the  request  to  Brigham.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :  "Fll  do  it.  "He  did, 
and  within  thirty-six  hours  from  the  time  Brigham  received  his 
dispatch,  a  company  of  one  hundred  men  was  enlisted  in  Salt  Lake, 
sworn  in  as  United  States  troops,  and  were  on  the  march  through 
the  canyons.  Later  a  second  company  was  raised  in  the  same  way 
and  as  promptly.  Looked  at  in  every  way,  I  can  see  no  evidence 
to  prove  the  charge  that  Brigham  and  his  people  were  disloyal. 
But  for  years  they  had  been  fearfully  harrassed;  their  prosperity 
had  largely  been  destroyed;  their  work  had  suffered,  and  they 
felt  possibly  that  their  first  duty  was  to  recuperate  from  the 
rebellion  that  had  been  forced  upon  them  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet. 

In  1862,  Utah  again  sent  delegates  to  Washington  asking, 
admission  to  the  union  of  states.  She  was  answered  by  the 
passage  of  the  anti- polygamy  bill.  A  part  of  the  Mormon  faith 
was  made  a  crime  in  the  territories;  the  corporation  of  the  Mor- 
mon church  was  annulled,  and  all  church  property  above 
a  value  of  $50,000  escheated  to  the  nation.  Still  the  Mormons 
went  on  digging  ditches,  irrigating  the  sage-brush  desert  and 
making  fruitful  farms. 

The  party  republican  war  begun  against  the  Mormons  through 
the  enmity  of  Fremont  and  Benton,  in  1856,  and  renewed  in 
Congress  in  1862,  and  later,  is  almost  ended.  But  in  1862 


29 

men  who  did  not  know  the  Mormons,  said  they  would  rebel 
against  the  anti-polygamy  law,  and  the  California  volunteers  were 
sent  to  Salt  Lake.  But  there  was  no  need  of  troops.  The 
Mormons  will  resist  when  another  attempt  is  made  to  drive  them 
from  their  homes,  and  when  that  time  comes,  if  come  it  must, 
what  vigor  of  life  yet  remains  in  me  will  go  with  them.  That 
there  was  no  rebellion  among  them  then  was  clearly  seen  and  un- 
derstood when  they  joined  freely  and  sincerely  with  the  troops  in 
Utah  to  celebrate  the  second  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in 
social  festivities.  It  was  seen  again  when  a  few  weeks  later,  the 
Mormons  united  with  the  military  in  their  tribute  of  respect  and 
sorrow  over  the  nations  martyred  son. 

The  years  1865-6-7  found  the  Mormons  busy  protecting 
themselves  against  Indians.  It  cost  them  over  a  million  dollars, 
and  the  nation  has  never  reimbursed  them.  Can  it  be  wondered 
at  if — with  their  church  corporation  destroyed  and  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  property  confiscated;  their  men  unpaid  for  a 
ten  years'  struggle  against  Indians;  their  women  disfranchised) 
all  their  polygamous  men  made  felons  and  disfranchised;  their 
rights  in  the  regulation  of  elections  taken  from  them;  every  one 
of  them  barred  out  of  the  jury  box;  all  forced  to  submit  to  trial 
before  men  who  are  bitterly  prejudiced  against  them,  while  the 
mob  that  murdered  some  of  their  people  in  Missouri  and  Illinois, 
and  drove  the  survivors  away,  were  paid  for  their  infamous  work 
and  permitted  to  steal  property  worth,  as  a  non-Mormon  said,  in 
1850,  not  less  than  $'20,000,000 — can  it  be  wondered  at,  I  say, 
if,  considering  all  this,  the  Mormon  people  feel  that  the  nation  has 
been  unjust  to  them  ?  I  think  not,  and  I  believe  the  honest  men 
and  women  of  the  country  need  only  to  learn  the  truth  to  con- 
cede that  I  am  right. 

Finding  that  all  the  world  and  particularly  the  Americans 
were  against  them,  the  Mormons  were  forced  nearer  to  each  other 
for  self -protection.  They  inaugurated  and  carried  to  its  first 
great  success  in  this  country  the  system  of  co-operation.  They 
established  co-operative  stores  and  factories,  and  their  great 
"Co  op"  or  Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile  Institution,  of  Salt 
Lake,  with  its  branches,  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  mercantile 
world.  It  has  done  as  high  as  $6,000,000  of  business  in  a  single 


30 

year,  and  is  still  in  most  successful  operation.  But  the  appear- 
ance of  this  movement  was  greeted  with  a  greater  outcry  from  the 
anti-Mormons  than  was  ever  raised  against  their  polygamy.  It 
was  seen  that  they  were  to  keep  their  money  among  themselves 
and  as  it  was  money  that  the  gentiles  came  to  Salt  Lake  to 
acquire,  this  movement  was  received  as  a  direct  blow  against 
them.  The  cry  was  raised  that  the  Mormon  church  would  not 
allow  its  people  to  trade  with  gentiles.  There  may  or  may  not 
have  b  een  truth  in  this  charge,  but  this  I  know  that  many  a 
gentile  firm  has  grown  rich  on  Mormon  custom  and  this  fact 
ought  to  be  sufficient  answer  to  the  charge  that  the  church  tried 
to  coerce  its  members. 

In  1869  Schuyler  Coif  ax  came  to  Salt  Lake  the  second  time. 
On  his  first  visit,  in  1865,  he  had  manifested  a  warm  interest  in 
the  Mormon  people.  In  1869  he  declined  to  accept  a  public  re- 
ception tendered  by  the  Mormon  city  council.  He  too  had  be- 
come an  an ti- Mormon.  At  that  time  what  was  known  as  "The 
New  Movement/'  an  attempt  at  what  was  called  "a  reform"  inside 
of  the  Mormon  church,  was  attracting  attention.  It  was  not  an 
anti-polygamy  movement,  for  most  of  the  men  who  joined  it 
from  the  Mormon  ranks  were  polygamists.  It  was  in  the  main  a 
movement  against  the  power  of  Brigham  Young.  Colfax 
yearned  for  this  movement,  even  though  it  had  no  plank  in  its 
platform,  no  revelation  from  its  seers  and  revelators,  against  that 
one  tenet  of  the  Mormon  faith  that  the  nation  had  been  denounc- 
ing and  fighting  for  two  decades,  .  Colfax  took  this  new  move- 
ment babe  in  his  arms  and  blessed  it.  He  had  great  confidence 
in  it  He  believed  that  it  would  soon  become  a  giant  that  would 
"knock  Brigham  out"  and  split  and  kill  Mormonism.  But  Colfax 
did  not  know  with  what  stronger  than  hooks  of  steel  a  great 
leader  binds  himself  and  his  followers  together.  While  a  man 
of  the  Old  Guard  remained,  he  never  faltered  in  his  allegiance  to 
even  the  dead  Napoleon.  While  Brigham  Young  lived  nothing 
could  shake  the  allegiance  of  those  who  had  for  years  felt  the 
peerless  attraction  of  their  great  leader.  Even  those  who  be- 
lieved they  could  reform  him  in  what  they  deemed  an  over-as- 
sumption of  power  still  make  willing  concession  that  "Brigham 
was  a  great  man." 


31 

" 

He  was ;  and  when  the  world  sees  him  as  he  was ;  when  the 
clouds  of  falsehood  condensed  above  the  quagmires  of  hate  have 
been  scattered  by  the  sun  of  truth  and  the  world  is  permitted  for 
the  first  time  to  see  the  man,  it  too  will  declare  that  Brigham 
Young  was  a  great  man!  From  1847 to  1870, through  trials 
that  would  have  left  an  average  man  defeated  and  broken  before 
he  had  fairly  entered  upon  them,  he  was  a  William  of  Orange,  a 
Cromwell,  and,  to  his  own  people,  a  Washington. 

His  enemies  have  never  wearied  of  pointing  to  the  great  walls 
he  had  built  in  Salt  Lake  as  evidence  that  he  was  preparing  to 
defy  the  government.  Those  walls  would  be  no  obstacle  to  an 
army,  and  they  were  built  in  the  years  when  thousands  of  poor 
Mormons  were  coming  into  the  country  without  means  of  sub- 
sistence. Brigham  was  opposed  to  feeding  paupers,  and  to  make 
a  way  for  wise  charity,  he  kept  hundreds  of  poor  men  at  work 
building  cobblestone  walls,  that  he  might  support  them  by  the 
church  funds.  Well  would  it  be  if  all  charity  were  as  wisely  be- 
stowed. He  made  men  industrious,  and  filled  Utah  with  thriving 
farmers,  by  teaching  the  importance  of  industry. 

In  the  stormy  days  of  that  infamous  "war"  he  was  a  king 
among  men — "aye,  every  inch  a  king  !  "  He  was  the  invincible 
protector  of  a  people  who  had  done  no  wrong;  who  had  been 
guilty  of  no  crime  save  that  of  holding  a  faith  that  was  repudi- 
ated by  a  crystalized  and  corrupt  theology.  Such  kings  as  he 

"Repress  the  bold, 
And  while  they  flourish,  make  an  age  of  gold." 

He  found  Utah  a  desert;  he  made  it  a  garden.  From  the 
despotisms  of  social  life  in  other  lands,  he  took  tens  of  thousands 
of  people  unto  whom  life  offered  nothing,  for  whom  a  Christianity 
of  caste  had  nothing  but  stones  and  scorpions,  and  made  them 
prosperous,  loyal  citizens  of  the  fruitful  valleys  of  this  divine 
mountain  land.  , 

He  lived  and  died  a  lover  of  the  Constitution  of  his  native 
land,  and  left  behind  him  a  great,  strong,  united  people  who, 
when  the  ambitious  Catholic  priesthood  and  the  intriguing  com- 
bination of  protestant  priesthoods  have  clutched  the  Constitution 
of  our  country  to  destroy  it  and  banish  freedom  from  the  land, 


will  be  among  the  foremost  to  spring  to  the  rescue  and  drive  back 
the  vandal  hosts  of  tyranny !  For  all  these  reasons,  I  say  Brig- 
ham  Young  never  was,  the  Mormon  people  never  were,  are  not 
now,  and  I  have  faith  that  they  never  will  be,  disloyal  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  flag. 


Below  are  fac  similes  of  the  signatures  of  the  three  men  who  led 
the  Mormon  people  through  that  { 'infamous  Utah  War"  without  the 
shedding  of  "one  drop  of  human  blood." 


~K 


Utah    hectares. 


Engagements  solicited  everywhere,  in  and 
out  of  this  Territory,  to  deliver  a  part  or  the 
whole  of  these  Lectures  on  important  and  timely 
subjects: 

1.  The  Utah  Situation. 

2.  Disfranchisement. 

3.  Escheat  Robbery. 

4.  The  Test  Oath. 

5.  Mormonism. 

6.  Statehood. 

Por  particulars,  address: 

CHARLES  ELLIS 

58  East,  2nd  North  St., 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


N.  B.-Mr.  Ellis'  Lectures:  "Utah,  '47  to 
'70,"  and  "Utah  Liberalism,"  in  pamphlet  form, 
fine  paper  and-  large  type,  mailed  on  receipt  of 
price,  25  cents  each.  Address  as  above. 


